1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to an outboard motor control apparatus, particularly to an apparatus for controlling an outboard motor with a transmission.
2. Background Art
In recent years, there is proposed a technique for an outboard motor having a transmission interposed at a power transmission shaft between an internal combustion engine and a propeller to change an output of the engine in speed and transmit it to the propeller, as taught, for example, by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2009-190671 ('671). In the reference, when a throttle lever is manipulated by the operator to accelerate the boat, the gear position (gear ratio) of the transmission is changed from the second speed to the first speed to amplify torque to be transmitted from the engine to the propeller, thereby improving the acceleration performance, and subsequently, when the engine speed is increased and has reached a predetermined engine speed, the gear position is returned from the first speed to the second speed.